Thwarting Radicalisation in India: Lacunae in Policy Initiative

Having experienced various forms of terrorism, extremism and insurgencies for over seven decades, the governmental agencies tasked with tackling such threats understand that while intelligence gathering, counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations can operate as effective stop gap measures, there is a need for effective and comprehensive policy which strikes at the root of the issue. There is a relatively new academic and political discourse that seeks to deal with the question: “What leads to radicalisation of an individual?” As well as the corollary to the above question: “How can the same be prevented?” This paper is an attempt by the authors to measure the magnitude of the problem of radicalisation facing the country and analyse the need of de-radicalisation and its accompanying strategies to tackle the threat comprehensively. Given that the concepts of radicalisation and de-radicalisation & their associated strategies are not yet conclusively defined in either political or academic discourses, the authors have in the first part clarified the understanding and extent of the terms for the purpose of the paper.